They Really DO Eat Everything in China

Just returned from 7 days in Mainland China. Traveled with John’s sister, Ellen, and we had a great time. Many stories to tell, but I’ll start with the food.

For the most part the food was fine. We actually laughed because some meals were exactly the same. These meals were mostly at hotel restaurants, which I guess are considered “safe” for Westerners. We had guides taking care of us each place we went. They took care of hotels & meals, so not a lot of exploration on our own. I’ve learned that exploration on you own in a very foreign country can not always be a good thing. So although we had for the most part fairly “tame” meals, we were not upset about this.

Our guide in Beijing was Lily, whom I met last year & she is wonderful. Our 2nd night in Beijing Lily took us out to a local restaurant for Peking Duck. While we were waiting for the meal Lily asked us how we wanted to have the bones, in soup or fried. I asked if she meant the duck bones & she said of course, you know we eat everything in China! I had no idea that meant the bones too. Having never had fried bones, we had to try this. Next she said that she had to run next door to get the rest of the duck. This place does the bones & body, but next door they do the neck, wings & feet. She wanted to bring some home to her family as her parents love the feet & necks. Of course she brought them back & insisted we try them. I have to say the feet were better than the chicken feet I’ve tried, guess there is something to be said for webbing! The neck & wings were OK, but I definitely prefer US style Buffalo wings. We enjoyed the Peking duck. If you've never had it you should know that you wrap slices of duck meat up with thinly sliced cucumber & scallions & hoison sauce in a thin pancake. The fried bones turned out to be pretty good as well. Naturally it is all in the coating, which was very yummy & the bones get soft enough to eat. Wouldn’t want to make a meal out of it, but a few pieces were good. I think the coating had caraway seeds in it & some other spices that made it good. (1st photo is the fried bones, 2nd is the duck feet)

On our last day we were in Guilin. The guide did not plan for us to be staying long enough for dinner, but since the only flight out is at 8:30pm, we had time for one more meal. She agreed to take us to a local restaurant that she likes to go to. When we got out of the van I noticed a cage near the front door with some furry animals in it with long front teeth, like beavers. We naturally went over to take a look. There were about 5 of them in the cage. They were not attractive animals, but furry & lively. I asked Michelle, our guide, what kind of animals these were & why they were out there. She said they are river rats (which I remembered having seen in an aquarium I’d visited in Bangkok) & they were not pets, but were there for people to pick out for their meal (OH MY GOD!!). I have a pretty strong stomach, but RIVER RATS! I somehow think I could eat cat or dog before I could eat these things. I thought Ellen was going to lose it! Then Michelle said, you can also pick out a turtle from this box here. Next to the rats were several turtles. And moving on down there were 2 cages filled with snakes, several fish tanks & 2 long cages with ducks in them all to ensure a very fresh meal. We pretty much lost our appetite for any type of meat. We ended up ordering fish, but sent Michelle out to choose it for us, Ellen didn’t want to see any of her meal before it hit the table. The fish was local fish from the Li River that runs through the town. The way they cook it, they call it beer fish & it was excellent. We also ordered some shrimp that arrived with shells, legs & heads still attached. I couldn’t figure out how to get any meat out of them. Michelle just ate the entire shrimp shell & all. Guess I'm not as adventuresome as I thought

Realizing that we were a bit put off by the food display in the cages, Michelle explained that most people in China are just too poor to waste anything. She said she was from a rural farming village & explained that many poor people in China make the equivalent of $150 per year, so they can’t afford to be very picky. Point well taken!